AA Madder than a hornet!!!

[msdis]

Got a phone call from AA last night saying they had to change our flight due to the fact that there would not be enough time to change planes on our connecting flight (31 min.) They have now changed us with over a 2 hour delay. That was bad enough but in watching prices fall ever since we booked this flight about 3 months ago, that connecting flight has never shown up as an option within an itinirary since, not just since they changed the times. Why, because it is almost booked to capacity since it is the connection that is the most popular. I checked from point a to point b on that leg and there are still seats available but the price is 3 times the amount what the flights are around it. When I pull up the exact itinirary we are now on, the price is much lower than what we paid. When I called to ask for a refund since this was not our doing, and yes we are now inconvenienced since I could have initially paid less to have that layover, they said those prices are not at all what they pull up. I have printed it off, I am not seeing things. I really feel they wanted our seats since they can get more money for that leg they MADE us give up. I spent 2 hours on the phone going over this and another hour this morning. We have no choice and we have no more time to deal with this but this is leaving a very bad feeling about ever flying with them again.

 

[Beckles]

If you're seeing lower prices (make sure you're requesting the number of seats you need, not just 1 when you do a price search), then just ask for a full refund, which they should give you since they changed your flights, and just buy the tickets.

Phone agents can not always see the lower prices since they are often only available on an airlines website (there is usually a recording on the phone telling you as much when you call, though this may vary by airline).

 

[danacara]

I'd be way pissed, but the key is to call them just "dripping with honey." The agent who's helping you is SO smart and SO helpful and well, you just don't know what you would do if you hadn't been connected to him. Let's see how we can "make this better." Maybe I'd give that a try.

 

[lovingthemouse]

I agree with Dana- be as nice as you can - explain everything to your and their satisfaction and get your full amount back!! You can take your frustrations out on us!! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[robinb]

msdis:

A 31 minute layover is not long enough for you to make it from one flight to another. The reason why your old connecting flight doesn't show up anymore is because they changed the time of one of your flights, creating such a short layover. It's not because it's a popular connection. It's because they can't sell an itinerary with only 31 minutes between flights!

You should be eligible for a refund of the difference between your original itinerary and your new one. Make sure that you are looking at the AA website for fares and not somewhere like orbitz. Go to www.OneTravel.com and check out the airline rules for American under "Rules of the Air" in the left column.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

I'm a little confused here. the flight you originally had is no longer there due to a schedule change. that much I got. but you lost me when you talk about the fare...... if the flights you were holding have gone down then yes you are entitled to a refund voucher for the difference. but I have posted many many times on this board about schedule changes. if you do not like what they have given you you can change it to anohter flight without penalty fees and if you want you may get a full refund. and dripping with honey isn't always the way to go either. stand your ground. and when you do get an agent on the line I would suggest asking for a supervisor or calling their consumer affairs department.
as for the layover time thats dependant on what airport you are connecting in. some have min connect times of 30 min, some 45 min, and some are an hr. each and every airport has a min connect time. and there are reasons for this.

 

[msdis]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I have gotten no-where and after my last attempt face to face tonight with someone I have thrown in the towel.
To explain the situation a little better we did reserve the tickets on AA over the phone, then went and paid at the airport in person after locating the flight numbers, times, and price over the internet but never did anything on line except get the info. When I did all my research the other night I also went to AA site and got all my info, even printing it out and brought with me with dates and times tonight. Once again all I got was, well, things change from moment to moment. Yes, I know all that and have played this game many times, that's how I got the flight to begin with. Never, ever, ever, have I been able to repeatedly pull up something on the internet on THEIR website and gotten the same answer only for them to tell me it doesn't exist. After 3 frustrating phone calls the other night I did ask to speak to a supervisor and they wouldn't let me. Said they could handle it. When I told him I found this on AA web site he said, oh we don't have anything to do with them, that's a whole different company. WHAT? When I said to the guy ''so what you are telling me is that if I saw that exact flight for the price that I did, then my only choice was to cancel and be refunded and get on line and process the new one. He said fine, I'll cancel this one if you want, and you can do whatever you want. " I said, "wait a minute, I don't want you doing anything until I confirm the new reservation then I will call you back and cancel" We said ours goodbyes. So, I then get on line and for one hour I could not after repeated tries, bring that itinirary back up. It was gone. I went to bed. The next morn I got up at 6am and logged back on only to see it there as plain as day. HMMMM.... where did it go. I printed it off, called again to once again deal with it, only to be told the exact same thing. So, I figured I just needed to move on and told the guy what leg needed to be fixed and he started messing with the whole itinirary, 4 legs. By this time I am fuming again as to what is going on. I once again tell the guy ALL I NEED IS 1 LEG to be fixed. Aren't they the ones who called me and said THEY were changing my flight. So I finally get him straightened out and tell him I just need to get my seat numbers for that last leg and that I noticed there were NO 2 seats together and ask where they have put us, mind you I have already checked on line and pulled up our reservation and now the last 2 legs no longer show seat assaignments. So he says to me "oh, you want to sit TOGETHER"? AHHHHHH!!!!! So he finally finds us 2 seats together and I am out of time and patience. Once again I am off the phone. Long day yesterday so I set out to get something on paper tonight at the airport. BY this time I realize the price is out the window, now I have to concentrate on the ticket and what the itinirary says. So I give him my name and confirmation number and explain there were some changes due to an adjustment on their part and would just like this on paper. NO PROBLEM. So he prints it out, and I look it over. Still no seat assaignment for the 2 legs on our flight home. So I point this out to him and he sets out to find out why. There ARE no seat assaignments, that's why. So I tell him where we are supposed to be and he changes it and prints me out a new itinirary. I guess there are a few points I haven't made clear. First I could have taken this EXACT itinirary in the beginning for less money than we did, and yes I know for sure that it was available, but we paid more money because I wanted those flights. I wanted less layovers and an earlier flight. So now we are being made to change when we paid more for something we could have paid less for had we chosen to do so in the beginning. The second point is I have seen this exact new itinirary for actually weeks for the lower price and they are still telling me no even when I printed it out with dates and times; minutes within the change. I feel like I have been lied to and it clear they lack in competency. I told my DH I hated to be so pushy with the guy tonight to have something on paper but like he said; if I hadn't we would have gotten to the airport and would not have had seats and if they overbooked we could have been standing there without seats or worse with seats not together, and I hate flying. I give up!Thanks for letting me vent and sorry this is so long but leaving out some details before didn't paint a clear enough picture. Thanks! I feel better!

 

[Chuck S]

I think you were on the right track when you thought about booking on-line then getting a refund from your original ticket. Many prices on the websites are 'Internet Only' fares, and cannot be booked in person or by phone, in fact their computer reservation system won't even pull up the internet pricing, they ARE operated as two separate companies. Think of the website as a separate travel agency that may offer lower fares and specials via pre-arranged contracts with the airline.

 

[msdis]

After making my last post the other night, before signing off I just had to look at those flights just one more time. When I did, much to my surprise they had gone down yet another $20/pp. I was blown away. How could the EXACT same itinirary keep going down yet they kept telling me MY flights were more expensive. So I thought ok, I'm going to beat them at their own game. I called like I was a customer looking to make a new reservation. I gave the guy our same dates, same flight mumbers, 2 adults. He came back with a price $10/pp less than I had just seen on the net. Would you like to book this, he said. Well, as a matter of fact, I told him, we already have these flights and may I have a credit, or voucher I asked? He took my confirmation number, looked us up and said, your flights are much higher than this price. How can that be, I asked, you just gave me a quote for much less. Well, these are not the same flights he said. I told him that I had given him the flight numbers and he had confirmed that. Then his next comment still has me laughing............are you ready for this.....well, there is only one seat left, and there are 2 of you........AHHHHHH!!!!! Yet, he was willing to sell me 2 seats for much less till he found out I was already booked. WHAT A CROCK OF BS! Well, at least I know it's not me. So word to the wise, if you book thru AA hoping to get a credit voucher when the price goes down, forget it, their agents are subject to lies.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

if you want I would be more than happy to speak to AA for you. sometimes its all in the wording you use on them. if you want my help let me know. I hate when this happens to people. most of today I will be off the computer since its my DD's birthday party today. contact me if you want help.

 

[msdis]

Thanks Beverly Lynn. I don't really think I want a credit voucher from them at this point. A credit voucher only encourages you to fly with them again, if you know what I mean. I posted again because I wanted others to see what a deceitful company AA is. We were loyal Delta customers and AA has done a GREAT job in seeing we stay that way now that Delta/Comair is
back and running. We have always received credit from Delta when the prices have gone down and these AA tickets were a result of the Comair strikes which Delta gave A+ customer service in refunding our money to go elsewhere. So, instead where AA could have gained a new customer, they are sending us back to someone we trust. Thanks, AA, it was a small price to pay for a lesson learned.

I hope you had a great party for your little girl and her birthday was a special day! Thanks again for your offer, you are such a wealth of information, and your offerings to help your fellow "dis" addicts is much appreciated.

 

[kda]

Re: Customer's Rights that may apply.
There's a Rule 240 that apparently states that a customer is entitled to a full refund if the airline changes your flight by even one minute, which causes you to arrive later than originally scheduled. IF you feel like dealing with this any more, you might call and ask to discuss your situation with a supervisor and how Rule 240 applies. That often gets their attention. Don't ask if you qualify --- act as if you believe that you're entitled to the refund and if they don't agree, ask them to fully explain why not. Airlines may try to give you a voucher, but when they've changed the flight time, to arrive later, I believe you're entitled to a refund, even for 'non-refundable' fares. [I've accepted a voucher since it's the only airline I fly to WDW.]
The tricky part, is you'd have to be sure there are seats available on flights you want and then IMMEDIATELY book your seats.